That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Education for continued funding and ongoing commitment into the early childhood sector in rural and remote Australia.
All children should have access to universal early childhood education, we ask that children in rural and remote areas be included and that geographical location be included as a disadvantage to the access to education. It is vital that in the first 5 years of a child’s life that access to early education provides the best possible opportunity for a child to thrive later in their primary education access. This access should not be hindered by where they live or access to services that can provide this service but can’t access the reasonable funding needed to provide service in these areas, also known as “childcare deserts.”
• That there is support paid for further education of staff in facilities as an incentive to continue teaching/carer qualifications to ensure places at centres are supported and best fulfilled
• Some centres can’t cater for the enrolled children because of the minimum requirements of qualifications for staff, leaving centres that can cater for up to 60 children only being able to care for 24
• Utilising already established centres/ mobile care units and allowing them to access better/ more funding to enable them to employ more staff which in turn provides more care facilitation and places they can provide this care to
• Funding streams such as the child care subsidy scheme be made available to services that provide rural and remote early childhood education to allow them to meet operational costs
